Portable patio floor structure



APril 7, 1970 A. B. CLEMENT 3,504,472

PORTABLE PATIO FLOOR STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 12, 1967 FIG 4 INVENT OR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,504,472 PORTABLE PATIO FLOOR STRUCTURE Andrew B. Clement, 1623 Stonecliir' Drive, Decatur, Ga. 30033 Filed Sept. 12, 1967, Ser. No. 667,280 Int. Cl. E04b /14; E04c 2/42 US. Cl. 52477 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A portable patio fioor structure comprising; at least one flooring panel, a plurality of first beams disposed in spaced horizontal relationship and a plurality of second beams disposed transversely of the first beams; wherein all of the beams include means integral therewith for locking the first and second beams together in a readily releasable manner to form a structural latticework for supporting the flooring panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an outdoor floor, and more particularly to a prefabricated, sectionalized, patio floor structure that is adapted to be assembled on the ground to provide a clean durable area for outdoor living.

Outdoor patios generally comprise concrete floor which are constructed by preparing an excavation, erecting forms, and pouring and finishing the concrete. Usually the services of a professional contractor are required for the construction of such patios at a substantial cost to the home owner.

While pouring and finishing concrete are beyond the skills of most home owners, a patio floor also can be constructed from precast blocks or bricks. However, unless a home owner is skilled in the art of block or brick laying, such floor soon becomes temporary in appearance since it cannot withstand the rigors of continued foot traffic or of weather.

Therefore, a patio floor is needed which a home owner with no technical expertise can construct himself with relative ease. Also, it would be desirable if such floor was portable and sectionalized so that the floor space of a patio could be increased or decreased with the same relative ease of construction as required for the initial installation at a date subsequent thereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention offers a solution to the abovementioned need by providing a patio floor structure which is easily assembled by an unskilled home owner, and which may be enlarged or diminished by the home owner at any time after the initial installation.

Generally, the invention comprises a plurality of first supporting members or beams adapted to rest on the ground in a predetermined relationship and a plurality of second supporting members or beams disposed transversely of the first members for supporting therewith one or more flooring panels. All of the members include mutually engaging locking means for interconnecting the first and second members in a readily releasable manner to form a structural latticework. The flooring panels are disposed in the openings of the latticework and are supported by seating means integral with the supporting members.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable patio floor structure which may be assembled and disassembled by an unskilled home owner with relative ease.

It is another object of the invention to provide a patio floor structure comprising a plurality of transversely disposed beams having means integral therewith for locking 3,504,472 Patented Apr. 7, 1970 ice said beams together in a readily releasable manner to form a structural latticework for supporting one or more flooring panels.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a sectionalized patio floor structure having one or more sections which may be assembled or disassembled as desired for making patios of varied shapes and dimensions.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof given in connection with the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of one section of a preferred embodiment of the portable patio floor structure of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the patio floor structure section shown in FIG. 1, showing the relationship between the supporting members and the flooring panels;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the means for releasably locking the supporting members together.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT One section of the portable patio floor structure of the invention is designated in FIG. 1 by reference numeral 10. Generally described, section 10 comprises a plurality of elongated first supporting members or beams 20 which are disposed transversely of and interlocked in a readily releasable manner with a plurality of elongated second supporting members or beams 24. Interlocked beams 20 and 24 form a structural latticework having openings within which are supported a plurality of flooring panels 28.

As best seen in FIG. 4, each first beam 20 has an in verted T-shaped cross-section, including a base portion 32 and upwardly extending rib portion 36 of a lesser crosssectional width than the base portion. Rib portion 36 is integrally afiixed to and substantially centered on the upper surface of base portion 32. At the juncture of base portion 32 and rib portion 36, the upper surface of the base portion forms horizontally disposed ledges 40 on either side of the rib portion, providing a seating means for supporting flooring panels 28. The height of rib portion 36 is equal to the thickness of panels 28 so that the upper surface of the rib portion will be coplanar with the upper surface of the panels.

Rib portion 36 has a plurality of regularly spaced notches 48 formed therein which are defined by side walls 52 and 54 on the rib portion and the upper surface of base portion 32; whereas the base portion extends unbroken along the entire length of beam 20. Notches 48 form part of the means for locking beams 20 and 24 together in a readily releasable manner. As shown in FIG. 2, each beam 20 includes a plurality of equally spaced notches 48 along its length and one-half of a notch at each end thereof.

Each second beam 24 also has an inverted T-shaped cross-section, including a base portion 58 and an upwardly extending rib portion 62 of a lesser cross-sectional width than the base portion. Similarly to beam 20, rib portion 62 is integrally afiixed to and substantially centered on the upper surface of base portion 58. Also similarly to beam 20, at the juncture of base portion 58 and rib portion 62, the upper surface of the base portion forms horizontally disposed ledges 64 on either side of the rib portion, providing a seating means for supporting fiooring panels 28 in conjunction with ledges 40 on beams 20. The height of rib portion 62, like the height of rib portion 36, is equal to the thickness of panels 28 so that the upper surfaces of the panels and rib portions will all be coplanar to provide a smooth-surfaced patio fioor.

As opposed to the structure of first beam 20, however, rib portion 62 of second beam 24 extends unbroken along the entire length of the beam having no notches formed therein; whereas base portion 58 of the second beam has a plurality of regularly spaced notches 66 formed therein which are defined by side walls 70 and 74 on the base portion and the lower surface of rib portion 62. Notches 66 also form a part of the means for locking beams 20 and 24 together in a readily releasable manner. As shown in FIG. 2, the spacing of notches 66 along each beam 24 corresponds to the spacing of notches 48 along each beam 20, including one-half of a notch at each end of the beam.

To form the latticework of patio floor structure section 10, first beams 20 are placed on the ground in spaced parallel relationship. The first beams are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacing of notches 66 in second beams 24. The second beams are then placed on the ground over the first beams in transverse relationship thereto with base portions 32 of the first beams being received within notches 66 in the second beams, and rib portions 62 of the second beams being received within notches 48 in the first beams. Notches 66 and 48 are of appropriate widths for accommodating base portions 32 and rib portions 62 therein, respectively. In this manner first beams 20 and second beams 24 are locked together in a readily releasable manner to form a structural latticework for supporting flooring panels 28. It should be noted that the beams are not held together by any bonding material nor by any other permanent or semi-permanent fastening means, such as bolts, rivets, welds or the like, permitting them to be disassembled readily.

At the periphery of each of the openings in the latticework are ledges 40 and 64 which comprise the seating means for supporting panels 28. The openings may all be covered by flooring panels if desired or one or more of the openings may be left uncovered to permit shrubbery or the like to be placed therein for adding to the aesthetic beauty of the patio.

Two or more sections may be positioned in side-byside relationship to form patio floor structures of varied shapes and sizes. When two sections are so positioned, the one-half notches 48 or 66 along the side of one section combine with the similar one-half notches along the side of the other section to form full sized notches for receiving therein either rib portion 62 of a beam 24 disposed between the sections, or base portion 32 of a beam disposed between the sections, as appropriate, depending upon which sides of the sections are positioned contiguous to each other. The beam disposed between the sections provides a smooth, interlocking transition from one section to the next. A patio floor structure comprising such a multi-section assembly is easily installed or dismantled by a home owner for rearrangement or storage as desired.

Beams 20 and 24 preferably are made of pre-cast reinforced concrete, although they may be made of metal or any other suitable building material. The beams preferably are approximately six feet in length although they may be longer or shorter as desired. It has been found, however, that a patio floor structure section whose dimensions are six feet by six feet is of optimum size to permit maximum flexibility of use.

Although section 10 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to be of a square configuration, with beams 20 and 24 disposed perpendicularly to each other to form a latticework having rectangularly shaped openings therein, sections of ing rectangularly shaped openings therein, sections of polygonal curved configuration may be employed with equal facility. The latticework for a circularly configured section,

for example, might be made from circumferentially disposed, arcuately shaped first beams and radially disposed, straight second beams.

Thus, while the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it is apparent that many modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. A patio floor structure comprising:

a plurality of first supporting members adapted to rest on the ground;

a plurality of second supporting members disposed transversely of said first members and also adapted to rest o the ground, each of said first and second members comprising an elongated beam having an inverted Tshaped crosssection, said first and second members including means integral therewith for locking the first and second members together in a readily releasable manner to form a structural latticework having openings therein, said integral readily releasable locking means being the sole means locking said members together, said first and second members further including seating means integral therewith at the periphery of each of said openings for supporting a flooring panel; and

at least one said flooring panel disposed in one of said openings and supported by said seating means with the upper surface thereof substantially coplanar with the upper surface of said members.

2. A patio floor structure as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said first and second supporting members comprises a base portion adapted to rest on the ground, and a rib portion of a lesser cross-sectional width than said base portion and integrally atfixed to the upper surface of said base portion.

3. A patio floor structure as recited in claim 2 wherein said seating means comprises horizontally disposed ledges formed by the upper surface of said base portion at the juncture of said base and rib portions,

4. A patio floor structure as recited in claim 2 wherein said means for releasably locking said first and second members together comprises; a plurality of notches formed in the rib portion of each of said first members adapted to releasably receive therein the rib portions of said second members, and a plurality of notches formed in the base portion of each of said second members adapted to releasably receive therein the base portions of said first members.

5. A patio floor structure as recited in claim 4 wherein the latticework formed by said supporting members and the flooring panels supported thereby comprise a portable patio fioor structure section, and wherein the rib portion of each of said first members has one-half of a notch formed in each end thereof and the base portion of each of said second members has one-half of a notch formed in each end thereof so that when two of said sections are placed in side-by-side relationship an appropriate supporting member may be disposed therebetween to provide a smooth, interlocking transition between said sections.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,927,557 9/1933 Rosenblum et al. 52311 3,031,042 4/1962 Drackett 52475 X 3,300,936 1/1967 Travaglia 52-477 HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner P. C. FAW, IR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

